Diffie–Hellman key exchange

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Who

Martin Hellman, an American cryptographer from a Jewish family, with Whitfield Diffie

When

1976

Where

Stanford University, California, United States

The Diffie–Hellman key exchange lets two parties agree on a shared secret over an open channel, a breakthrough that made modern secure internet communication possible. It was published in 1976 by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, who was born into a Jewish family in New York. Hellman later shared the 2015 Turing Award, computing's highest honor, for this pioneering work in public-key cryptography.

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.